Radical Haggadah Insights: Part Two

The Talmud
teaches: “Whoever participates in the suffering
of the community will merit to see the comfort
of the community.” (Taanis 11a)

Dear Friends,

Torah has many levels of meaning, and with this
awareness, we shall discuss another radical
insight concerning the “wicked child” of the
Haggadah:

“The wicked child – what does he say? ‘Of what
purpose is this service to you?’ He says, ‘To
you,’ thereby excluding himself. By excluding
himself, he denies the essential principle.”

As the Haggadah indicates, he separates himself
from the People of Israel; moreover, through
this separation, he denies the essential
principle. The great sage known as the Maharal
of Prague (1512-1609) stressed the following
Passover principle: Through the Exodus of
Egypt, we were born as a people (Gevuros Hashem:
3,52).Someone who separates himself from
the People of Israel is therefore denying this
essential principle. We were reminded of this
principle when the Redeeming One proclaimed to
us before we left Egypt:

“I shall take you to Me for a people” (Exodus
6:7)

In this
spirit, the Redeeming One sent the
following message to Pharaoh regarding the
“birth” of our people: “My firstborn child is
Israel. So I say to you: Send out My child that
he may serve Me” (Exodus 4:22,23). As Rabbi
Samson Raphael Hirsch explains, Israel is the
firstborn in the spiritual sense, as Israel’s
journey is to lead to the spiritual birth of all
peoples. The Redeeming One is therefore telling
Pharaoh, “With Israel, the womb of humanity will
be opened.” This message also expresses the
essential principle of the Passover journey. An
Israelite who separates himself from his people
- the pioneering people of human history - is
denying this essential principle.

Through my work in the Jewish community, I
have encountered Jews who separate from their
people in certain areas of their lives. I am not
speaking about Jews who have totally
assimilated. I am speaking about Jews who
identify in some ways with their people, but who
occasionally exhibit a coldness or insensitivity
to Jewish concerns. For example:

1. There are those who ignore the needs of
the Jewish poor in the diaspora and in Israel.
Their newsletters, websites or blogs will
discuss the suffering poor of other peoples, but
not the suffering poor of their own people. Some
of them give generous contributions to help the
needy among other peoples, and they fail to give
anything to help the needy among their own
people.

2. There are those who publicly express
anguish and pain over the suffering of other
peoples, but who fail to publicly express
anguish and pain over the suffering of their own
people. Their newsletters, websites, or blogs
are full of moral outrage at the suffering and
injustices experienced by other peoples and even
other creatures, but there are no expressions of
moral outrage at the suffering and injustices
experienced by their own people. In fact, some
of them even demand that the State of Israel
continue to give land to those who are dedicated
to our destruction without demanding an
immediate end of the violence against our
people, an end to the educational campaign of
hatred against our people in the Arab media, as
well as in Arab schools, and a public
recognition of the right of the State of Israel
to exist. These Jewish activists speak of the
rights of the Arabs, including the Palestinian
Arabs, but they forget that Jewish men, women,
and children have a right to live in peace now -
without fear of rocket attacks, suicide bombers,
and other acts of ongoing terrorism. And if the
Arab peoples have a right to have their many
Arab States, the Jewish people have a right to
have their one Jewish state.

3. There are those who make their
“idealistic” cause into an “idol”; thus, they
are willing to sacrifice Jewish concerns and
Jewish dignity on the altar of their idol. They
therefore enthusiastically support and endorse
any leader, project, or book which they feel is
“good” for the cause, even when this leader,
project, or book is hostile or insensitive to
the Jewish people and/or Judaism in some way.

I pray that the above individuals will engage
in a soul-searching process of “teshuvah” –
spiritual return and renewal – which will give
them a deeper appreciation of their people and
their heritage. They will then realize that
their universal vision must also embrace the
Community of Israel – a community that is
destined to bring blessings to the World
Community through Torah – the Divine Teaching.

May we all remember the ultimate goal of the
Passover journey:

“It will happen in the end of days: The
mountain of the Temple of Hashem will be firmly
established as the head of the mountains, and it
will be exalted above the hills, and all the
nations will stream to it. Many peoples will go
and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of
Hashem, to the Temple of the God of Jacob, and
He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in
His paths. For from Zion will go forth Torah,
and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem. (Isaiah
2:1-4)

As we chant at the conclusion of the Passover
Seder, “Next year in Jerusalem!”